Prolactin and parenting in the pigeon family

✍ Scribed by Silver, Rae

• Book ID: 102891454
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 611 KB
• Volume: 232
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-104X
• DOI: 10.1002/jez.1402320330

✦ Synopsis

The relationship between plasma prolactin and: crop growth; incubation; brooding; and feeding young in Columbiformes is reviewed. There is a good parallel between changes in crop growth and plasma prolactin fluctuations during the breeding cycle. Prolactin does not play a role in the initiation of incubation, though it can maintain the response. Toward the end of breeding, a decline in prolactin precedes the decline in incubation (of infertile eggs) or brooding (of young), while exogenously administered prolactin can prolong the response. There is no evidence of a necessary relationship between prolactin secretion and parental feeding of young, as this behavior can precede and outlast the secretion of the hormone during breeding.